Farm-tractor.



' H. M. FORD.

FARM TRACTOR.

APPLICATION man uov.2l.1sns.

1,49,0159 Patented Dec. 4,1917.

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n. M. FORD.

FARM TRACTOR. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21. IBM;-

1,249,059. Patented Dec; 4,1917.

H. M. FORD.

FARM TRACTOR.

APPLlCATlON FILED NOV-21. l9l6-' 1 ,249,059 {I Patented Dec. 4,1917.

3 sucns snsr a.

31 4mm JET/171 6713 i a Application area November 21,-1e1as riamaisaeea s ra ns rarer ra ion.

V HERMAN M. roanor BONE Ger, ILLINCIS.

a raemraao'roit To all takom it may concern}, i l r Be it knovvnthat I," HEiz AN M. FORD; a citizen of the United States, residing at Bone Gap,in the county of Edwards and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Iin provements; in Farm 'lractors, of which thefollowing is a specification.

l This invention relates to farm tractorspthe object being to produce novel drivingmecha! nlsm between the motor andtra'ctlon Wheels of the machine wherebytvvo traction Wheels 7 capable of being turned forsteering pur poses may be positively driven irrespective of "the angles assumed by said traction Wheels, the traction Wheels thus constituting tliesteering wheels.

' Afurther object in View is to iso arrange the driving and steering connections that while the machine {is being propelled by the drivingmechanism, the-traction Wheels may be turned, if desiredycompletely at right angles to their straight ahead position for the purpose'ofenabling 1 the 'tractor' to be turned in a minimum amount of space. i F 111'? thermore thetractor is adapted to bepropenea either in aforv vard or rearward direction' andpthe main 'body portion of the frame ofthetractor under which the traction Wheels are located, may be propelled laterally with respect to the'normal direction *With the above and other objects in vievv, the invention consists in theconstruction, combination andarrangement; herein fully described, illustrated and claimed. i *In the accompanying drawingsr Figure 1 isa top plan View of the improved "farm tractor; omitting the drivers platform in orderto better illustratethe mechanism involved! r Fig. 2. i's albottom plan view of the same. v

Fig.3is a"side 'elevationthereof:

"Tl i 4 is avertical transverselsection-taken in line with the driving shaft and showing part of the differential "gearing directly associated with saiddrivingshaft.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal section taken; adjacent to the rin gear and through "the transmission sha t and countershaftp fFig. 6is a fragmentaryplan vievvtaken just above the clutches, the transmission we. S e ie shaft, the transmission countershaft and the gearsvandshiftinglever. y F ig; 7 is a fragmentary vertical longitudin showing-the relatiqn *thereto a. of

Specification of Letters 2atent. l Dgh41917i.

the draft T of a farming iml plement being towed by the tractor.

1 Fig. 8 1s adetailedperspective'view of the i i i embodies a pair of transversely opposite annular trnck holsters} 1 bearing a fixed rela-' tion tothe frame as" a Wholeythe said truck bolsters being shown as formed separately from each othena'nd tied togetherby means of the transversely eiit'e'noling front and rear transverse bars Qand 3; The bolsters 1 and transverse tie bars 2 and 3 form the main part of theforwarchsection ;of theItru k frame. A The-rear section of the truck frame comprises f longitudinal l' tie bars 4 arranged in spaced parallel relation to each other and connected -"by cross bars '6, the side bars 5 being fastenedat theirforvvard ends to the front section of,the frame and" directly to the rearcrossb'art. The "rearsection of; the frame isjdesigned to support a suitable platform tnot s hoivn) and therear end of saidrearfs'ection of the truck frame is carriedfbywh'eels hereinafter more; particul'arlyfreferredtop;

In connection with each ofthe fixed truck bolsters 1, I employ a rotatable wheel carry i'ng bolster 7 whichismountedto' turn relativelv to thefixed bolster, being formed with an annular groove 8- in the periphery there of in which are arranged anti-friction rollers 9 mounted on studshaftslO extendingin vvardly. from [the fixe'd bolsterQ This-em ables the Wheel carrying bolster to rotate and be actuated bytheineans hereinafter described for the purpose of steering jthe machine. Each v'vheel carrying} bolster has eitendingdownwardly tl1erefrom apai'r of hangerszin' which is journaled the shaft 10 of thefldj acent traction wheel 11. Fast 011 thshaft 10 and'bearing' a fixecl relation to the traction Wheel 11 is a sprocket "wheel 12 from Whicha drive chain lflektends upyvardly through the opencenter of the rotatable bolstenvvhere it'passes; around another sprocket Wheel l l' fast on a horizontal shaft 15"exteriding oven'the top IOfthG traction Wh'eel and journaledin bearingslfi 'se mired in fined relation to the rotatable bolster atjdiainetrically opposite'p'oints]; The said horizontal shaft extends" diametrically of the rotatable bolster. j p Y driving shaft is journaled at its lower end in a strut bar 21 secured to the rotatable bolster-and extending diametrically across the open centerthereof. The upper end of said .vertical drivingshaft is journaled in q the upper horizontal portion 22 of an arched support23. The construction just above referred to 15 duplicated atboth sides of the machine and the upper bevel gears on the vertical driving .shafts arein mesh with and are actuated by.

bevel pinions 24 onthe opposite extremities ofadrivingshaft 25, the opposite extreme.- ities of said .shaftbeing journaled in bear ing members 26 secured to the arched sup ports hereinabove referred to.

The driving shaft 2 5;is of the divided or sectional type :and the inner ends of the two sections are connected together by d1f-.

ferential r gearing somewhat similar to that :usedinautomobile .practice. in connection with therear driving axle. In other .words the-sections of the drivingshaft 25 have fast on their inner ends oppositely disposed and facing bevel gears 27 between which are arranged bevel pinionsZS journaled in the body [or web of a ring gear 29. The ring gear .29 is provided with sprocket teeth 30 to reoeiveasprocket chain 31 which engages avsprocket wheel 32 on a transmission shaft 34, said chain also passing around another sprocket wheel 35. on a transmission countershaft 36, both of ,the last named shafts beingparallelto eachother and journaled in arms or brackets 37 in fixed relation to the front section of the frame. The transmisisonshaft and countershaft are geared to gether for simultaneous rotation in opposite directions by means of gears 38 and 39 fast thereon. The transmission shaft also-has fastthereon a bevel gear 40 which meshes with andisactuated by a pinion 41 on the shaft 42,0,f the motor 43. The motor may be of any desired type, being shown in. the

form of an internal combustion engine and the same being mounteddirectly upon and secured to thefront section A of the truck frame. Thesprocket .wheels on the transmissio shaft and its .countershaft are normally loosejbutare adapted to be thrown into and out of locked engagement therewith by means.jof-clutches-.44,and 45, each ofsaid clutches. being feathered to its respective slh -aft shown and beingzslidable toward 'and'away fromga clutch facelonthesprocket wheel. ll heltwo clutches are connected by a yoke lever 46 which 'is pivotal ly .mounted between its ends on a fulcrum post 47 extending upwardly from the truck frame, the arrangement being such that when one of the clutches is shifted in one direction the other clutch is shifted in the other direction, thus only one of the sprocket wheels on the transmission shaft and its countershaft may be thrown into engagement at the same time. 48 designates a hand controlled clutch shifting lever which isuconnected by. al-ink 49 to an arm,50 of the oscillatory clutch yoke,

said lever beingin co-nvenientTreach of the.

operator. By. the mechanismjust'described,

the driving mechanismmaybe reversed for.

the purpose of driving. the machine. either in a forward or rearward direction. u t

The. steering mechanism of the tractorcomprises, in the preferred embodiment .of this invention, a flexible steering shaftfil the rear endportion of which is j'ournaled in bracket 52 secured to and extending .up-..'

wardly'from the truck frame, ahand wheel 53 being fast on the rear end of said steering shaft. The forward end ofsaid steering shaft is journaled in aysupportingmem: ber 54 secured to the truck frame and "is provided with .a worm 55 which meshes with the worm gear .56 on the upper .end portion of a short vertical shaft 57 having one :end journaled in the frame and the other end journaled in and supported by'a bearing step or hanger 58 alsosecured to the truck Fast on the lower end ,portion of frame. the lastnamed shaft is a spur gear 59 which meshes witha pair ,of relatively largerlspur gears 60 which are secured in fixed relation to the two rotatable bolsters which carrythe tiaction wheels hereinabove referred to Therefore when the hand steering wheel is turned in a certain direction, through. the.

medium of the connections justldescribed, both of the traction wheels are caused ,to

turn in a corresponding direction. Furthermore the traction. wheels may be turned through an arc of 90 which enables the farm tractor to be turned 1n :a minimum amount of space. Due to the construction of. the driving gearing,the latter will not be interfered with no matter what angles are assumed by the traction Wheels for the reason that the rotatablebolsters for :the traction wheels turn on p the ;axes .of the respective vertical drivingshafts whichtare geared to l the over-head driving shaft, hereinbeabove particularly described.

:For supporting the rear end of the truck frame, I employ oppositely located carrying wheels 61 the same being preferably mounted in-rearwardly extendingforks having substantially; vertical spindles .63; These sp ndles are jonrnaledin bearings '64 hearing a :fixed relation to the opposite ends of a rear bolster or .hangera65. Extending forwardly fromisaid; rear bolster is :anfcarm 6,6." A hinge pin- 67 extendsgthrongh. the

bolster and the up urned end portion 68 of d rmand else through-the Cross ba sf the rear frame section B. .The rearbolster.

or hanger is thus pivotally connectedwith the 111111 0 .f ameand a pt d o w ng horizontalforeand aftaxis-so that the rear wheels may accommodate themselves to the i pole or tongue may play upwardly and downwardly within said slot 1n the rear bolster or hanger.

In order to hold the rear wheels from swinging laterally when a farming implement is not hitched behind the tractor, the upper extremities of the spindles of the wheel carrying forks are squared or flattened as indicated at 73 and are received in correspondingly shaped openings 74: in a lock bar 75. This lock bar is readily detachable so that the rear wheels may be left free to swivel and trail behind the front portion from place to place when a farming implement having a pole or tongue is being towed.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will now be understood that the steering mechanism and the driving mechanism are of such characters and are so combined that the steering mechanism and the driving mechanism do not interfere with each other in the slightest manner used con jointly. There can be no binding or cramping action on the drivingmechanism and the steering mechanism. Furthermore byreason of the construction described, the traction wheels may be turned to either side or through an arc of 180. This enables the tractor to be turned in a circumscribed space, a particularly valuable feature where the garage or storage place for the tractor is small.

It also facilitates backing the tractor up to a farming implement so as to connect the two machines together.

I claim:

1. In a farm tractor, the combination of a truck frame embodying transversely opposed and fixed bolsters, a pairof rotatable traction wheel-carrying bolsters mounted within the fixed bolsters, means for simultaneously turning both wheel bolsters in the same direction, and driving mechanism for said traction wheels comprising a motor, a transmission shaft driven by said motor,

a transmission countershalt; parallel, to said. transmission X shaft, an, overhead driving 1 shaft, chain gearing connecting said driving, shaft with the transmission shaft and coundirection of 1movement of said chain gearing, differential.gearing, associated with; said drivingshaft, vertical, shafts geared to tershaft, clutch mechanism for reversing the said driving shaft and having their longi- U tudinal' axes. in line with the axes of movement of the bolsters of the traction wheels, horizontally disposed shafts geared to said vertical shafts, and chain driving means be tween said last named horizontal shafts and y the traction wheels.

within the fixed bolsters, means for simultaneously turning both wheel bolsters in the same direction, and driving mechanism for said traction wheels comprising a motor, a transmission shaft driven by said motor, a transmission countershaft parallel to said transmission shaft, an over-head driving shaft, chain gearing connecting said driving shaft with the transmission shaft and countershaft, clutch mechanism for reversing the direction of movement of said chain gearing, differential gearing associated with said driving shaft, vertical shafts geared to said driving shaft and having their longitudinal axes in line with the axes of move ment of the bolsters of the traction wheels, horizontally disposed shafts geared to said vertical shafts, and chain driving means between said last named horizontal shafts and the transmission wheels, said last named horizontal shafts being journaled in bearings carried by the rotatable bolsters.

3. In a farm tractor, the combination of a truck frame, a pair of oppositely located traction wheels, means for steering said traction wheels simultaneously in the same direction, a motor mounted on the truck frame, driving mechanism for said truck wheels embodying driving shafts vertically disposed with their longitudinal axes in line with the axes of the steering movement of the traction wheels, shafts disposed at right angles to said vertical shafts and journaled in bearings having a fixed relation to the axle bearings of the traction wheels, and chain drive mechanism between the last named shafts and said traction wheels.

4. In a farm tractor, the combination of a truck frame, oppositely located traction Wheels arranged to swing laterally and simultaneously in the same direction, means for steering said wheels, and driving mecha nism for said traction wheels, including a motor mounted on the truck frame, a transmission shaft driven by said motor, a transmission countershaft geared to said transniiss'ionshztft to turnin the" opposite direction therefrom, "sprocket Wheels on said shafts, a driving shaft, a sprocket Wheel thereon, a chain extending around all of '5" said sprocket wheels, drwlng connectlons between said drivingshaft and the. traction Wheels, and a'reversing clutch cooperating with the sprocket Wheels on the transmis- Copies of' this'patent may be obtained for HERMANM; FORD;

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ofPatents, Washington, D. C.

10 rection for correspondingly "reversing the 

